Avery is reacting very well to being a big sister. She loves to say hi to the baby (Hi Baby), and often wants to
hold her. She is also very interested in diaper changes and breastfeeding. I have seen her nurse her baby doll a few times now. She is doing very well in potty training (all thanks to Linda, much less thanks to us), but she is already using it as a tool to get out of bed, get out of her booster seat, etc. She is also giving us such a hard time at bedtime - there is almost no point in trying to get her to stay in her bed until she has decided she is ready to sleep. Sigh...these things pass, right?
Micaela is doing very well. Breastfeeding has worked out pretty well this time - almost 2 weeks in and we're getting close to pain-free nursings. It seems to me she has become a bit of a snacker during the day, but I guess I don't really have much else better to do than feed her whenever she wants. She is a little more focused at night, thank goodness. She's gaining weight and her little chicken legs are slowly starting to fill out. Nights aren't too bad - she usually sleeps for stretches of 2.5-3 hours, nurses for 20-30 mins, and more or less goes right back to sleep. Next step is to get her out of our bed and into her crib. I suspect her difficulty in achieving that step is her mother's failure to try. Maybe next week... :) One interesting development is that so far she does not like the Miracle Blanket. She likes to sleep with her hands above her head, which of course is not possible when the Miracle Blanket is used properly, so we have been putting her in a sleep sack instead. I'm not too worried about not using the Miracle Blanket - maybe we won't have that same awful backsliding in sleeping duration once we stopped using it with Avery - but it just seems strange to me that we might not use it. It worked so well for Avery (and us), up to a point.
A few wrinkles have occurred over the past week. 1) Avery tripped and fell into the wall last week, resulting in a scary goose-egg on her forehead, to the point that Greg took her into a walk-in clinic. The doctor was pretty sure she didn't have a concussion, but told us to keep her home from daycare the next day, to limit her activity and no TV. That was a challenge - but Sandy helped us out as usual, and we managed to get through the day. A week later, her bruise is finally starting to go away.
2) The other morning, Avery accidentally head-butted Greg in the nose, to the point that he thought his nose was broken, and that he was imminently going to throw up. He was fine in the end, but he is a lot more careful now when he is getting her dressed!
3) A little more serious - we had a call from the Genetics Dept at CHEO today. Turns out that Micaela screened postive for the same class of disorders that Avery did on the Newborn Screening tests. As with Avery, Micaela was only marginally above the cut-off, so we went to CHEO and gave them a urine sample and blood. We should get the results next week, but we aren't too worried this time around. CHEO's new theory is that rather than this being a genetic disorder in either of them, that I actually develop higher levels of the chemical they are testing for in the later stages of my pregnancies, and then pass the elevated chemical on to the babies. I had a urine test and blood test as well today, so they might know more about me next week as well.
Overall, life with 2 kids brings new and interesting challenges. Mostly the things that are stressing me out have to do with Avery, and I am constantly feeling like I am not spending enough time with her or giving her enough attention. Hopefully that will pass, and I will get to have some one-on-one time with her soon. Greg is spending a lot more time with her, and she seems quite happy with that. She is still going to daycare full-time, and will until the winter is over. She continues to love it there, and we couldn't be happier about that. Thank goodness for Linda!
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